Legacy of the Fallen
by Pestilence616
Summary: Dragon-kind has been around for a very long time. They fought to keep their species alive through a harsh world. When they died out they left evidence to their struggle. Strong willed heroes and survivors to keep their legacy alive.


The sand beneath him stung the open cuts on his paws. He grit his teeth, choking back sobs. He clenched his dark grey eyes shut and dug a stinging paw from the gritty sand, bringing it up to his bleeding chest. Salty tears fell from his eyes in thick drops, darkening his royal blue scales, reflecting off the setting sun. The gentle crashing of the waves against the beach did little to soothe his aching heart.

"_It was your fault," _a shrill voice spoke in his head. The dragon shuddered and a sob escaped his tightly clenched jaws. His chest heaved and the paw fell back into the bloody sand. "_You just stood there, shaking like a hatchling," _The voice spoke evenly, but with a condescending tone underlining it. "_They died because of you," _Sobs poured out of him and he collapsed on his haunches. The dragon pulled his paws up and pounded them up against his skull. "_You lied to them!"_ That was the last straw.

"Shut up! Shut up!" the dragon screamed in anger, tears flying out of his eyes as he ground his head into the sand. "I didn't mean to! Ahhhhh!" He screamed until his throat was sore, pounding his bloodied paws into the sand. His heart was torn, spilling his soul through the cracks. The broken dragon fell onto his back, dragging his talons across his face. His body shuddered as he spilled liquid emotion from his grey orbs. His form fell silent as he cried himself to sleep.

The emotional strain created very vivid and disturbing nightmares. The faces of his friends filled with betrayal and anger. Crimson liquid sprayed across his face as the dragons before him were torn apart. Their screams of pure agony ripped through his heart, yet he couldn't move; the ropes held him firm. One voice stood out amongst the agonizing screams.

"Rhine! How could you!?"

Rhine awoke with a start, clutching his racing heart and breathing heavily. The sky was dark and bathed the land in shadow. The moon above cast silvery reflections on the sand beneath his body. He sighed and tried pushing himself up, the action taking a lot of strength given his large blood loss. Cracking his neck, the dragon walked up the beach, limping from a large series of cuts on his left ankle. Flashes of memory lanced through his head. A device hooked to his leg sliced the flesh apart every time he moved, drawing throaty groans of agony from his maw. Rhine pressed onward, ignoring the pain. On the horizon, the large city of Warfang stood. The lights blazed on the fall from the patrols watching the stone city. He nodded silently and kept moving. His blood soaked scales created a putrid odor that stung his nostrils. Step after step, he walking almost mindlessly across the grassy plains. Blood slowly dripped out of his scabbing lacerations weakening him further. His legs felt like jelly after about five minutes of walking and his breathing was starting to become labored. The almost dead silence was driving him mad. Off to his left, a few feet ahead, heavy footfalls shook the ground, a troll and multiple grublins marched across the plains, dragging the carcass of a green earth dragon behind them. Rhine's blood boiled and churned in his veins. They hadn't noticed him yet. Lowering himself, Rhine slinked forward, eyes alight with icy hatred. The ice dragon twirled his tail, the sharp, serrated, knife-like end swirled in a small icy cloud.

Rhine was right behind a small grublin that was lagging behind slightly from the rest of the group. The creature made a quiet hiss when a shard of black ice shot right through its short neck, nearly decapitating it. The body fell into Rhine's paw and he lowered it to the ground. The main group didn't notice their missing comrade and Rhine moved up. Silently, the ice dragon shot two shards of ice from his maw and into the dirt. Crouching on his hind legs, he yanked them from the ground and dragged them through his sharp teeth. The loud crunching was swallowed by the heavy footfalls of th troll. He held the knife shards in his paws and padded forward silently. He snuck up behind two of the vile creatures, who were engaged in a quiet conversation, talking in strange clicks. Rhine reached up and stabbed each shard into the sides of the grublin's heads. They died without a sound. Rhine stumbled back as the slightly larger bodies fell into his arms.

The troll turned around, noticing the abrubt end to his underling's talking and roared when it saw the blue dragon bathed in moonlight. Rhine cursed and dropped the bodies, returning to all fours as the group of creatures charged him. Two flying grublins rammed into him, knocking him back slightly, yo which Rhine responded by ramming his tail into one of the evil being's gut. The dragon was about to finish the other, when the troll charged in swinging his large mace. Rhine rolled to the side, but the flying grublin was crushed by the large stone weapon. The ice dragon rammed his head back and caught an orc by its eyes. The creature squalled in pain and fell back. Rhine cursed and hopped into the air when the large troll swung it's mace into the air. The ice dragon landed on the handle before bringing a clenched talon to his mouth and rapidly breathing a large shell of ice onto it. Rushing up as the troll tried to pull it's mace from the ground, Rhine threw a punch as hard as he could. The blow landed strong and the shell shattered, flinging sharp bits of ice into the huge creature's face. The beast roared and brought a large hand up to its face. Rhine rammed his cold talon into the troll's eye before running up to the top of its head. It's pain filled roars shook the earth and in a camp not too far away the eyes of four young dragons opened.

Rhine swung his tail around and plunged into right into the beast's skull. The beast howled painfully and swung its fist up. Rhine caught the blow to the face and was knocked off, crimson fluid trailing from his shattered jaw. He landed with a loud crack on the ground. He howled, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. His pain filled eyes turned around to his legs. The bone poked against his scales, but not tearing them open. A loud grunt drew his attention back forward. The dragon desperately gathered all his power in his mouth as the troll pulled it's mace out of the ground and turned to him, burning rage in its one usable eye. The troll roared and brought it's mace up, ready to crush the dragon to a meaty pulp.

"_No!_" Something inside him snapped and the energy released from his maw in a wirling cloudy of icy wind. The cloud instantly froze the troll, its body becoming brittle and collapsing under its own weight. Rhine breathed unsteadily and his head fell to the ground as he shuddered heavily. The flapping of wings grabbed his attention. He looked up to see four dragons land and race over to his fallen, beaten body.

They took a look at the broken bodies around them, before turning their eyes to him. In the darkness he could make out their colors. Red, pink black and…_purple_! Shock overtook Rhine's mind. The purple one yelled at the red and black dragons, while the pink one whispered reassuring words. His mind, exhausted from his ordeal, was unable to process the words. As his mind shut down, Rhine whispered out one last word. A name.

"A-a-alayta…'


End file.
